


Cute

by Katie_Madison



Series: The Uchiha Brothers [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28897872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katie_Madison/pseuds/Katie_Madison
Summary: At some point during their academy days, Sasuke and Naruto get handcuffed together by Iruka sensei to help them work through their issues (and because he needs a break).Eventually, the two of them start talking about what Sasuke is actually looking for in a partner (considering how he keeps rejecting all of the girls throwing themselves at him), leading to some unexpected revelations.
Relationships: Hyuuga Neji/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Itachi/Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto
Series: The Uchiha Brothers [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1240970
Comments: 7
Kudos: 32





	1. Iruka's Solution

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! So excited to be sharing this fic with you! ♡ I am such a fan of the idea that Itachi raised Sasuke to think of the world a little bit more like he did, and that maybe Sasuke would share that in turn with a curious Naruto.
> 
> Plus, NejiNaru is such a favourite of mine. So many people say that Naruto changed or inspired them, but I think Neji and Naruto had so many similarities and parallels - both cursed with seals - but filled in aspects the other lacked, genius/deterministic underdog/wild card. So you'll see me exploring that a little here and in other works hopefully : )

At the end of his wits one fine spring day, Iruka sensei decided that the best way to help Sasuke exhibit more pro-social behaviours and to teach Naruto some self-discipline was to simply suppress their chakra capabilities and handcuff them together during recess.

Naruto figured that his sensei was punishing him because of his latest prank to paint over the Hokage monument with a cool glow-in-the-dark paint the day before the cherry blossom festival and distract everyone from the fireworks that night, so he rolled his eyes, but kept quiet, sensing his teacher was in a punishing mood. Sasuke, however, couldn’t imagine what he had done to be reprimanded, let alone saddled with a dead-weight.

“Release me right now,” Sasuke insisted, shaking his wrists to no avail, “You can’t do this for no reason, and I haven’t broken any rules.”

Iruka just sighed, drew out his pocket notebook, and began looking for a specific quote, sighing when he found it.

“‘ _Not a single one of you stupid cows would ever even qualify for ANBU; you’re all pathetic and don’t even try to improve yourselves. I hate people like you,’”_ Iruka read aloud to Sasuke, quoting directly.

“Sound familiar, Sasuke-kun?” he asked in a soft but decidedly disappointed tone, “Unfortunately, those... _words_ are the source of your punishment.”

“Why?” Sasuke protested, stomping his foot in frustration, “I didn’t use any slurs! The girls asked me what I wanted in a partner, so I gave them the answer; what's so wrong in that?”

Iruka just sighed. 

Technically, Sasuke making all the girls cry until they hiccupped by telling them that he would only date people who were ANBU level or higher (and that all of them were too stupid for ANBU, and thus him) wasn’t _an infraction of a school rule_ … But still.

Sasuke scowled, cheeks a little pink from having his words from earlier in the day thrown back in his face.

Iruka bent down to his level and smiled sympathetically, “While saying… _such things_ isn’t exactly breaking a rule, it belies the sort of insolence and disrespectfulness that could… sabotage your ability to complete team missions… Meaning that as your teacher, I need to correct that,” Iruka said, bullshitting so hard for a rationale to his actions that he even impressed himself, “And this is a way of doing that. Don’t think of it as a punishment, think of it as a way to learn how to get along with people… like a form of training.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Iruka sensei, somehow sensing that he was speaking out of his ass, but Sasuke, ignorant to Iruka's mannerisms, could only sigh, “ _Fine_.”

Iruka settled them by the swings, mentally high-fiving himself for getting both Naruto and Sasuke out of his hair and somehow even making it fit their individualized lesson plans.

As he returned to supervising the rest of the playing children, Iruka decided that that night he would use the time he _usually_ used to agonize over Sasuke’s standoffishness and Naruto’s mental health for a nice long bath in congratulations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please comment & kudos & bookmark for more! 
> 
> Love,  
> km ~


	2. A Beautiful Form

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, despite the fact that it didn't look like the different academy years interacted much, realistically, since they were in the same building at the same time, the kids of Naruto's age and Lee/Neji/Tenten's level probably shared a recess period - or so I took the liberty of suggesting here.
> 
> Writing such a young, untraumatized Sasuke who is still opinionated and ambitious is, as always, so fun.
> 
> Please Enjoy!

“Wow,” Naruto said, turning to face Sasuke with narrowed eyes, “That was some harsh stuff, man.”

Sasuke just scoffed, “Yeah, well, if those girls really _wanted_ me that badly, they wouldn’t have started crying like babies and would have actually started working harder to be great ninja instead, because that’s what I desire in a partner.”

“Dude. What’s wrong with you?… You choose who to go out with… based on her, like… cuteness or… prettiness?” Naruto said in an obvious tone, as though Sasuke was some kind of moron, gesturing his free, not handcuffed-hand wildly at a group of girls playing in the field on the other side of the academy, across from where the two of them had been sealed into a makeshift ‘time-out’ box.

Sasuke snorted, “Oh, like _you_ did with _Sakura_?”

Naruto flushed and squacked, “Yeah! So what? You don’t think she’s cute?”

Sasuke didn’t respond, but Naruto suddenly caught himself and looked away, flushing even more, “…Actually, please tell me that you _don’t_ …”

“It doesn’t matter if I do or don’t,” Sasuke said in frustration, “Cuteness, based on physical appearance, doesn’t even _matter_ to me… That’s the whole _point_ of what I was trying to say to those girls. I couldn't love someone based on that.”

“So, you’re saying you… Can’t even tell if someone’s cute or not?” Naruto asked in shock, getting up into Sasuke’s face to make sure his eyes were okay.

Sasuke rolled his perfectly functioning eyes and sighed, “Such selective hearing... Of course I can tell who’s cute… better than you can anyways.”

Naruto looked doubtful at that and scrunched his eyebrows in silence until Sasuke sighed at the other boy’s almost audible confusion. Naruto could be so distractingly dramatic at times.

“Okay… you wanna know what I think, _objectively?_ Who is really the cutest and the prettiest?” the prickly boy started in a perfectly even tone, scanning the crowd while Naruto proceeded to sweat.

Finally, Sasuke looked satisfied. “ _That boy_ is the prettiest…” he said plainly, pointing in turn at a boy who was concentrating hard on his fighting stance slightly away from the thick of the playing kids, “And _she’s_ the cutest” he finished, gesturing to a girl sitting even further away by the pond just outside the academy grounds with an easel and painting set.

Although Naruto initially yelled about Sasuke being gross for saying that a guy was the prettiest, when Sasuke doubled down and commanded him to just look at him already, Naruto angrily squinted at the boy Sasuke had indicated and found himself almost paralyzed, his eyes widening as he stared, and stared, and stared.

In fact, Naruto stared at the boy for so long that Sasuke laughed, “Did you have a stroke?”

At the sound of Sasuke’s taunt, Naruto looked away quick enough to give him a crick in his neck, pointedly ignoring Sasuke’s knowing smirk, “Well… I mean… I wouldn’t have, like, _said so_ if asked _,_ but, uhm, yeah, even though he’s a guy, that older guy - Neji, right? Uhm, I guess - is like… _pretty_.”

“Objectivel-,”

“YEAH, OF COURSE! OBJECTIVELY. That’s what I meant!”

Sasuke nodded and the two of them once again settled in to watch the boy move through several iterations of his incredibly rapid fighting stances, not looking or noticing any of the other kids around him.

“The lines in his form are always clean, and he has a calm way of moving that’s beautiful to watch,” Sasuke observed with a detached admiration, “And his-”

“-eyes are so intense,” Naruto cut in, “Like… as though they’d look right into you and see everything inside… Or maybe like he’s fighting so _hard_ to see through something that’s blinding him, but… he still hasn’t found that one thing that would help him do just that. So, he looks at everything with such focus and, and it's-, I can't tear my eyes away...”

Subconsciously, Naruto couldn’t help but move towards him, dragging an amused Sasuke with him to the edge of their sectioned-off time-out corner to get a better look, only breaking out of his stupor when Kiba started yelling at some upper-year guy about how Akamaru definitely didn’t have fleas.

“Sure. _Sure_ ,” Naruto said aloud, but it seemed as though he wasn’t talking to Sasuke, but himself, “You’d be insane to say Neji wasn’t beautiful. He’s universally beautiful, like… like… a swan, or a peacock, or, uhm, uh.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, “Don’t hurt yourself, dobe,” but he was grinning too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all of the kudos, comments, and bookmarks! Please be sure to leave more : ) I expect to be able to update this story every week until it is over soon : )
> 
> Take care 
> 
> ♡  
> km


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